Departmental Marketing

Robert Syms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ruislip Northwood of 5 January 2010,  Official Report, column 103W, on departmental marketing, how much  (a) the Cabinet Office and  (b) the Central Office of Information have spent on advertising, marketing, public relations and publicity to the (i) Real Help Now and (ii) Building Britain's Future themed campaigns to date.

Tessa Jowell: With regard to expenditure by the Cabinet Office on Real Help Now and Building Britain's Future, I refer the hon. Member to my answer given to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd) on 5 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 103-104W.
	I have asked the chief executive of the COI to reply to the hon. Member.

Counter-terrorism

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the data collected on individuals through the Channel Project for identifying those vulnerable to violent extremism is shared with the security services.

David Hanson: holding answer 18 March 2010
	It has been the established policy of successive Governments to neither confirm nor deny in response to questions concerning the intelligence and security agencies.

Counter-terrorism

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place for individuals identified by the Channel Project to seek to have their details removed from police force records.

David Hanson: holding answer 18 March 2010
	Under the Data Protection Act 1998 the Chief Constables of each police force are the Data Controllers of all information placed by that force onto local force systems. Only they can authorise the amendment or deletion of any record.
	Through the Data Protection Act a person may apply to the police, for disclosure of and disposal of any personal information held. The police should then make a decision regarding disclosure and disposal, on a case by case basis, under the terms of the Act.
	The management and use of information within the police service is done in accordance with Management of Police Information (MOPI) 2006 guidance. This sets standards for the review and retention of information and the disposal of information if it is no longer considered necessary for police purposes.
	The Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information (MOPI) defines policing purposes as: protecting life and property, preserving order, preventing the commission of offences, bringing offenders to justice and any duty or responsibility of the police arising from common or statute law.

Counter-terrorism

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding has been allocated for expenditure on advertising in respect of the anti-terrorist hotline in the financial year 2009-10; what payments his Department has made to each media outlet in respect of such advertisement; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of such advertisement in meeting the objectives set for it; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 24 March 2010
	The total cost of advertising for the Anti Terrorist Hotline in 2009-10 was £1,005,587. A breakdown by media outlet is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Media outlet  Payments made in 2009-10 (£) 
			 National press 299,630 
			 London radio 170,876 
			 National radio 159,175 
			 TalkSPORT 100,090 
			 Women's magazines 96,648 
			 Door drops 72,713 
			 Minority press 38,361 
			 Wales press 24,442 
			 Welsh radio 15,981 
			 London press 13,664 
			 Social media 10,245 
			 Taxi trade press 3,762 
			 Total 1,005,587 
		
	
	Assessment of the 2009-10 advertising campaign will commence in April 2010. However, the police value the hotline-which is continually manned 24 hours each day by specialist counter-terrorism officers-as it provides the public with a facility through which they can confidentially provide information about suspected terrorist activity which could help to prevent a terrorist attack.

Crime: South Yorkshire

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many serious crimes of each category have been recorded in  (a) Sheffield and  (b) South Yorkshire in each year since 1998.

David Hanson: The Home Office does not use the term 'serious crime'. Data are provided for the following offence categories: violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery. Data for South Yorkshire police force area are shown in Tables 1a to 1c from 1998-99 to 2008-09. Data for Sheffield Community Safety Partnership (CSP) are shown in Tables 2a to 2c. For CSPs (formerly known as CDRPs or Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships) data is available centrally from 2001-02 onwards. These tables have been placed in the Library.
	There was a major change in police recorded crime recording practices in April 2002 that means that figures from 2002-03 are not comparable with figures prior to that year.
	The introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002 brought in a more victim-focused reporting system, where victim accounts had to be accepted unless there was credible evidence to the contrary. In its first year, this was estimated to have artificially increased recording of violence against the person by 23 per cent.
	From l April 2008 there were also changes in offence classifications which for the first time collected separate information on grievous bodily harm (GBH) without intent (rather than as part of a broader 'other wounding' category) and a clarification in the counting rules for grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent. This led to a step change in the levels of most serious violence for some police forces. This means figures for these offence categories for 2008-09 are not comparable with those for earlier years.

Departmental Training

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2010,  Official Report, column 81W, on departmental training, on what dates the sessions of media training were provided; which organisations provided that training; what the cost was of that training; and to which Ministers that training was provided.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 5 February 2010
	Ministers of the Home Department engaged in the following media training:
	Liam Byrne on 23 January 2007 with Kim Fletcher;
	Meg Hillier on 11 July 2007 with Angela Coles;
	Alan Campbell on 17 October 2008 with internal training providers;
	Information on costs relating to media training by external suppliers is not held centrally.

DNA: Databases

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his contribution on Second Reading of the Crime and Security Bill, 18 January 2010,  Official Report, column 35, if he will provide detailed information on each of the 36 cases of DNA data being held on the National DNA database for those previously arrested but not convicted of an offence in which DNA evidence was vital in securing a conviction in cases of  (a) rape,  (b) murder and  (c) manslaughter.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 24 February 2010
	The information given at Second Reading of the Crime and Security Bill was the outcome of an analysis by the Association of Chief Police Officers' Criminal Records Office (ACRO) and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) of information held on the police national computer, following consultation with the Senior Investigating Officers in each of the 36 cases referred to. In 2008-09 there were at least 79 DNA matches for rape, murder and manslaughter where the original sample was taken for an offence that did not result in a conviction. 36 of these matches were found to have a direct and specific value to the investigation. It is not our policy to release details of individual cases without the explicit consent of the victims or their families. In any case, some of the cases remain before the courts.

Extremist Websites

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the list of extremist websites, bookshops, networks, centres and organisations announced by the then Prime Minister on 5 August 2005 was first established; on what dates the list has been updated; whether the deportation of a foreign national has been  (a) considered and  (b) executed on the grounds of active engagement with one of the organisations on the list; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the most recent edition of the list.

Alan Johnson: The Prime Minster's announcement on 5 August 2005 set out a 12 point plan designed to counter the threat of terrorism. As my right hon. Friend the former Home Secretary said on 1 September 2008,  Official Report, column 1594W, significant progress had been made on the 12 point plan and that all counter-terrorist work was now subsumed into the Government's long-term counter-terrorist strategy (the Contest strategy).
	The Home Secretary may make a deportation order where he is satisfied that deportation is conducive to the public good. The basis for such a decision could include, for example, the individual being engaged in the promotion or dissemination of extremist material (including via websites, bookshops, networks, centres and organisations). The police and other law enforcement and intelligence partners work closely to identify sources of extremism. Where an individual is found to have been engaged in the encouragement of terrorism or dissemination of terrorist publications, the police and CPS would seek to prosecute them. In the case of a foreign national engaged in extremist activities, we seek to deport them. In the case of organisations, the Terrorism Act 2000 allows an organisation to be proscribed if the Home Secretary believes it is concerned in terrorism. The Terrorism Act 2006 extended the meaning of concerned in terrorism to include the unlawful glorification of acts of terrorism.
	I am not prepared to comment on individual cases of deportation. I can, however, confirm that individuals who are suspected to have engaged in extremist activity have been deported on grounds that their presence in the UK not being considered conducive to the public good. I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to him on 30 November 2009,  Official Report, column 474W, which provide the number of foreign nationals deported from the UK on the grounds of unacceptable behaviour (relating to foreign nationals who foment hatred or violence in support of their extremist beliefs).
	The police and other counter-terrorism partners seek to identify extremist websites, bookshops, networks, centres and organisations. A list of proscribed organisations is available on the Home Office website at:
	http://security.homeoffice.gov.uk/terrorist-threat/proscribed-terrorist-orgs/proscribed-terrorist-groups/index.html
	For national security reasons it is not possible to provide details of all such websites, premises or organisations of concern.

Police: Bureaucracy

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what five types of activity, excluding front-line policing, accounted for most police officer time in each year since 1997.

Alan Johnson: Front-line policing was defined in Home Office Guidance on Statutory Performance Indicators for Policing 2007-08, to include the following activities which have been measured using policy activity analysis (AA).
	Dealing with crime incidents; Dealing with non-crime incidents; Visible patrol; Special operations/events; Investigate complaints; Deal with informants; and community involvement.
	In each of the years between 2003-04 and 2007-08, the first three of these categories were consistently the activities on which the police spent most time. After the activities which comprise front-line policing, the same five activities took up the greatest proportions of police time over the same 2003-04 and 2007-08 period. They were, in descending order of time taken:
	Non-incident-related paperwork
	Briefings/meetings
	Other non-incident-related work
	Refreshments
	Other managerial/supervision.
	The amount of time spent annually on these activities in total over the period 2003-04 and 2007-08 was as follows:
	2003-04: 26.9 per cent;
	2004-05: 7.6 per cent;
	2005-06: 26.9 per cent;
	2006-07: 24.3 per cent;
	2007-08: 25.6 per cent.
	To reduce paperwork burdens on police officers, the collection of data about time spent by officers on police activities ceased after 2007-08 in response to the recommendations by Sir David Normington in his review of data burdens placed by the Government on the police service published in February 2009.
	
		
			  Table A: proportion of time spent or policing activities, by activity and year 
			  Activity  2003-04  2004-05  200-06  200-07  200-08 
			 Violence against the person-S20 and more serious 3.2 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.3 
			 Violence against the person-S47 and less serious 3.0 3.4 3.9 4.4 4.1 
			 Sexual offences 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.3 
			 Burglary dwelling 3.1 2.8 2.5 2.8 2.8 
			 Burglary-commercial and other 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 
			 Robbery 1.7 1.8 1.8 2.0 2.2 
			 Theft of or from motor vehicle 2.2 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.8 
			 Deception/fraud 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.2 
			 Theft other 3.4 3.0 3.1 3.4 3.4 
			 Drugs offences 2.3 2.4 2.8 2.6 2.8 
			 Criminal damage 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.2 
			 Other crime 4.4 4.2 4.4 5.5 5.4 
			 RTA fatal/serious 0.9 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.1 
			 RTA minor injury/damage 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.3 
			 Traffic Other 2.8 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.7 
			 Public disorder 1.8 1.9 2.1 1.6 2.0 
			 Domestic dispute 1.5 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 
			 Complaint/nuisance 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.0 
			 Prostitution 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 False alarms 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Missing person 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.2 
			 Sudden/suspicious death 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.7 
			 Other non crime 3.2 2.9 2.7 3.1 3.1 
			 Visible Patrol 14.8 15.7 14.4 14.0 14.4 
			 Court duties/escort 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5 
			 Special operations/events 2.2 2.0 1.6 1.7 1.8 
			 Investigate complaints 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Deal with informants 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 Community Involvement 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.3 
			 Property enquiries 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 
			 Non incident enquiries 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.5 
			 Crime prevention activity 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 
			 Prison interviews 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Training 2.0 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.7 
			 Briefings/meetings 6.9 6.6 6.4 5.9 6.5 
			 Non incident linked paperwork 7.8 6.6 6.5 6.5 7.3 
			 Other non incident related work 4.5 6.5 6.3 4.6 4.3 
			 Staff development/appraisal/personnel related 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.8 
			 Monitoring cellblock PACE (Domain 2) 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 
			 Relief custody duties (Domain 2) 0.5 0.6 1.2 1.1 0.4 
			 Call handling/relief control room duties/enquiry desk 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 
			 Checking paperwork (supervisory) 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.8 
			 Budgetary/financial 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 ID parades 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.1 
			 Other managerial/supervision 2.9 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.3 
			 Refreshments 4.8 4.7 4.5 4.2 4.2 
			 Waiting time 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 
			 All crime 30.1 29.3 30.7 33.1 32.6 
			 All non-crime incidents 15.1 15.2 15.3 16.0 15.6

Departmental Accountancy

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ruislip Northwood of 10 February 2010,  Official Report, column 1097W, on departmental accountancy, if she will place in the Library a copy of each of the five written ministerial directions.

Jonathan R Shaw: A copy of each of the Ministerial Directions will be placed in the Library. Parts of the Direction given on 15 September 1998 have been redacted in accordance with a confidentiality agreement reached at the time.

Departmental Information Officers

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to her Department was of employing press and media officers in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost to her Department was of employing such staff in the financial year 1996-97, expressed in real terms.

Jonathan R Shaw: The cost of the press office for the 12 months from March 2009 to February 2010 is £2,499,577 providing media handling for the Department, Ministers, Jobcentre Plus and the Pensions, Carers and Disability Service.
	This covers 50 members of staff who are based in London, across the English regions, Scotland and Wales. They provide a service to the Department and to journalists 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
	The Department for Work and Pensions was created in 2001. Figures for 1996-97 are not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Internet

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department spent on external website design consultants in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Over the last three years the Department has spent the following on external website design consultants:
	
		
			   Website  Cost (£000) 
			 2009 DWP Corporate 112 
			 2008 Office for Disability Issues 98 
		
	
	There are no costs recorded for 2007.
	The DWP Corporate website was redesigned as part of our response to the Sir David Varney transformational government recommendations that customer facing content should move to Directgov and employer facing content to Business Link. We are currently working with Cabinet Office to conduct a survey that will act as a benchmark to measure customer satisfaction of the site.
	The Office for Disability issues website was redesigned as part of improvement work using customer feedback and research. Formal accessibility audits are carried out every year to ensure the website continues meet customer needs.
	All external contracts are tendered within agreed DWP contractual framework agreements.

Departmental Senior Civil Servants

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many grade 2 civil servants are employed in her Department.

Jonathan R Shaw: Grade 2 as a description of staff level is no longer in general use. Senior civil servants in roles at a similar level to the former grade 2 are now referred to as being in Senior Civil Service Pay Band 3 and usually have the job title of Director-General.
	The Department has 11 full time Senior Civil Service Pay Band 3s including two in DWP sponsored Non Departmental Public Bodies; one in each of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission and the Health and Safety Executive.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether young people taking part in the Young Person's Guarantee are to be allocated for  (a) job searches and  (b) job interviews whilst taking part in one of the full-time options mandated through the guarantee.

Jim Knight: Before a young person participates in the Young Person's Guarantee they will already have undergone an extensive period of supported job search and, where appropriate, will have received help with interviews for suitable job vacancies.
	Young people participating in the Young Person's Guarantee will continue to receive help with job search and interviews:
	As part of the in work support given to Future Jobs Fund employees, employers are expected to provide training and support to help them move into permanent, sustained employment. From April, Jobcentre Plus will also contact FJF employees as they come towards the end of their job to provide information about jobs available in the local area. This support will complement the activities employers are undertaking to help young people in to sustained jobs.
	Young people on other strands of the Young Person's Guarantee also receive tailored help with job search and interviews.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what programmes sponsored by her Department are designed to assist young people into employment in Leeds North West constituency.

Jim Knight: Young people in the Leeds North West constituency are able to access a wide package of measures that the Government have implemented to address youth unemployment. From day one of their claim Jobseekers can access provision that includes targeted group sessions in jobsearch techniques, access to Local Employment Partnership vacancies and access to additional financial support towards the costs associated with finding work. We have also quadrupled funding to the Rapid Response Service which provides advice and support to people facing redundancy.
	Longer-term jobseekers who remain unemployed after six months can access provision that includes the Young Person's Guarantee, which offers the guarantee of a job, training or work experience to all long-term jobseekers aged 18-24, through the Future Jobs Fund (FJF), Routes into Work, Work Focused Training, the Community Task Force and provides access to help with self employment. To date, the Government have agreed to fund around 117,000 jobs through the FJF, and, while details of these jobs are not broken down to constituency level, we know that this total figure includes the creation of up to 734 FJF jobs by Leeds city council.
	The Backing Young Britain Campaign brings together business and public and voluntary sectors to provide jobs, internships, apprenticeships and work experience to young people aged 16-24.
	Eligible young people can also access a wide range of flexible Jobcentre Plus provision which is tailored to meet other needs, such as those with special needs due to a disability or who are lone parents.

Hewlett Packard

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what effect the recent industrial action by Hewlett Packard employees has had on the payment by her Department of benefits by giro cheque.

Helen Goodman: The recent industrial action by Hewlett Packard employees has had no effect on the payment of DWP benefits by cheque (formerly girocheques).

Jobcentre Plus

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Jobcentre Plus branches there were in  (a) rural and  (b) urban areas in (i) England and (ii) Wales in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is the responsibility of the chief executive, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the right hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Darra Singh:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many Jobcentre Plus branches there were in (a) rural and (b) urban areas in (i) England and (ii) Wales in each of the last 10 years. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	I am only able to provide information on Jobcentre Plus offices since April 2002, when Jobcentre Plus was created by the merger of the former Employment Service and Benefits Agency. Our public facing network is designed to provide reasonable access to our services throughout England and Wales. Offices open to the public are not categorised as constituting part of an urban conurbation or being sited within a rural location.
	Jobcentre Plus inherited around 1,500 offices from the merger of the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service in 2002. At the time of merger the two organisations had many offices which were geographically close to each other, often in the same street. We have modernised our Jobcentre network to improve customer service, rationalising our estate to provide excellent high street coverage and a single, integrated customer facing office, at the same time reducing cost to the tax payer. We remain the largest office network in Government with 741 modern Jobcentres. This high street presence is supported by 31 modern contact centres and 79 main benefit processing centres.
	The great majority of our services (in common with most large, modern organisations) are now also delivered through the telephone and internet. For example, to give customers more convenient access, we have almost half a million vacancies on-line at any time (our website receives close to one million job searches every working day), and new claims to benefit are predominantly taken by telephone with some taken on-line. In order to make our services more accessible to customers we are providing a range of support through outreach, often delivering advisory and other support on partners' premises This has brought our customer facing services together in a more coherent and integrated network and I believe Jobcentre Plus is well-placed to respond to the full range of economic conditions.
	I hope this is helpful.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged  (a) under 25,  (b) 25 to 50 and  (c) over 50 years old (i) claimed jobseeker's allowance and (ii) were helped into employment by Jobcentre Plus in each Jobcentre Plus district in each month from January 2008.

Jim Knight: The available information on jobseeker's allowance claimants has been placed in the Library.
	The Office for National Statistics also publishes voluntarily provided information on the numbers of people leaving jobseeker's allowance for employment on the Nomis website. As the provision of this data is voluntary, it does not have sufficient coverage to give the complete picture.

New Deal Schemes: Chesterfield

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in Chesterfield constituency have entered into work after participation in the New Deal programme since 1997.

Jim Knight: holding answer 25 February 2010
	The jobseeker support regime delivered by Jobcentre Plus has been very successful and the New Deal programme has helped more than 2.2 million people into work since it was introduced in 1998.
	The introduction of the Flexible New Deal will support the Government's aim of helping more people secure sustained employment through tailored, flexible help and support, particularly for those people who experience repeated cycles of unemployment. The Flexible New Deal will be available in most areas of the country by October 2010.
	The following table sets out the numbers of people who have moved from the New Deal for Young People, the New Deal 25 Plus, the New Deal for Partners and New Deal for Lone Parents immediately into work. The latest data held is up to August 2009.
	
		
			  Numbers of people leaving New Deals for employment 1997 to August 2009: Chesterfield Westminster parliamentary constituency 
			   Total  Employment  Employment and benefits  Other 
			 New Deal For Young People 4,930 1,940 160 2,830 
			 New Deal 25+ 2,620 750 60 1,810 
			 New Deal For Partners(1) 40 10 10 20 
			 New Deal For Lone Parents 2,440 1,030 210 1,190 
			 (1) The measure used for New Deal for Partners is Leavers (Individuals) as spells are not available in these cases.  Notes:  Definitions and Conventions: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Westminster parliamentary constituency (post May 2005) is allocated using the ONS Postcode Directory and customer's postcode. 3. Other includes: Benefits-Income Support, Benefits-Incapacity Benefit/ESA, Benefits-Other/Unknown benefits, Other known, and Off Benefits/Unknown-"Other" categories include people who may have found a job, but have not notified Jobcentre Plus. 4. Information for leavers on New Deal for Disabled People and New Deal for 50+ is not available. 5. We do not require people leaving the New Deal programmes to record exactly where they leave to.  Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate Published

New Deal Schemes: Expenditure

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to the public purse of the New Deal programme has been in each year since its inception.

Jim Knight: The available information can be found in the following table.
	Since 1998 the New Deal has led a major transformation in employment support for people in Britain. Together, the different New Deal programmes have helped around 2.25 million people into work.
	
		
			  Programme and administration expenditure on New Deal 1997 to 2003 
			  Period  Yearly outturn for New Deal programmes (£ million) 
			 1997-98 43 
			 1998-99 314 
			 1999-2000 535 
			 2000-01 565 
			 2001-02 629 
			 2002-03 614 
		
	
	From 2002-03 onwards HM Treasury agreed to simplify reporting arrangements and only required the Department to report on total New Deal expenditure. As the Department was no longer required to manage administrative budgets for individual New Deals managers were afforded extended flexibility in deploying the resources available to them. In addition to the programme expenditure, the figures in the following table therefore only include the direct staff costs of administering New Deal programmes (calculated on the basis of number full time equivalent staff delivering the programme) and are not directly comparable with the figures contained in the table above which include all administrative expenditure.
	
		
			  Expenditure on New Deal 2003-09 
			  Period  Yearly outturn for New Deal programmes (£ million) 
			 2003-04 559 
			 2004-05 588 
			 2005-06 512 
			 2006-07 449 
			 2007-08 515 
			 2008-09(1) 446 
			 (1) Forecast outturn as reported in Departmental Report 2009.  Notes: 1. Yearly outturn data includes programme and administrative expenditure but excludes the cost of AME training allowances. 2. The figures for 2002-03 include an estimate of administrative expenditure. 3. These figures are available in the Departmental Report 2009 which is available in the Library.  Source: Department for Work Pensions, Employment Group Finance, Planning and Performance Division 
		
	
	The latest New Deal figures will be affected by the introduction of the new Jobseekers Regime and Flexible New Deal (gradual implementation started from April 2009).

New Deal Schemes: Expenditure

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to the public purse of the New Deal 13 week programme was  (a) in total and  (b) per participant in the last 12 months; and how many people have participated in the programme in each year since its inception.

Jim Knight: The information requested is in the following tables. Data has been provided for new deal for young people options and new deal 25-plus intensive activity period, both of which have a 13-week minimum duration.
	
		
			  Cost of new deal 13-week programme in 2008-09 
			   Total spend (£)  Total starts (Number)  Unit cost (£) 
			 New Deal for Young People Options 84,200,000 88,527 951 
			 New Deal 25-plus Intensive Activity Period 85,100,000 60,350 1,410 
			  Notes: 1. Total starts are not individuals; people may start on the options/intensive activity period more than once. 2. The options have a minimum duration of 13 weeks. Total starts include starts on opportunities of up to 52 weeks duration. 3. The employment option and subsidised employment are not included. 4. Figures have been provided for 2008-09 as this is the last complete financial year. 5. Figures provided are programme costs only and do not include the costs of administering or referring people on to these programmes by Jobcentre Plus staff, or any incidental expenses such as travel or child care.  Source: DWP: Provider Level Management Information System. 
		
	
	
		
			  New deal for young people, gateway start year on first option taken 
			  Calendar year  All 
			 1998 57,830 
			 1999 89,150 
			 2000 71,560 
			 2001 55,390 
			 2002 54,600 
			 2003 52,280 
			 2004 48,010 
			 2005 43,500 
			 2006 58,070 
			 2007 68,440 
			 2008 64,600 
			 2009 80,810 
			  Notes: 1. Definitions and conventions: Figures are displayed in thousands and rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Time series: calendar years. 3. The latest new deal for young people and new deal 25-plus figures are starting to show the effects of the introduction of the new jobseekers regime and flexible new deal (JRFND). The scheme is being gradually implemented in phase 1 areas from April 2009 and in the remaining phase 2 districts from April 2010.  Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate. 
		
	
	
		
			  New  deal 25-plus , gateway start year on first option taken 
			  Calendar year  All 
			 1998 5,630 
			 1999 20,750 
			 2000 18,330 
			 2001 24,440 
			 2002 44,830 
			 2003 44,260 
			 2004 37,130 
			 2005 33,450 
			 2006 37,280 
			 2007 61,290 
			 2008 65,170 
			 2009 50,290 
			  Notes: 1. Definitions and conventions: Figures are displayed in thousands and rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Time series: calendar years. 3. The latest new deal for young people and new deal 25-plus figures are starting to show the effects of the introduction of the new jobseekers regime and flexible new deal (JRFND). The scheme is being gradually implemented in phase 1 areas from April 2009 and in the remaining phase 2 districts from April 2010.  Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate.

Opposition

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether her Department has undertaken costings of the policies of the  (a) Conservative Party and  (b) Liberal Democrat Party at the request of Ministers or special advisers in the last 36 months.

Jonathan R Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by my hon. Friend, the Exchequer Secretary (Sarah McCarthy-Fry).

Poverty: Children

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children have been living in poverty in the South West in each year since 1993.

Helen Goodman: Specific information regarding low income for the UK is available in 'Households Below Average Income 1994-95 to 2007-08'. This annual report, which is a National Statistics publication, includes the numbers and proportions of individuals, children, working age adults and pensioners with incomes below 50 per cent. 60 per cent. and 70 per cent. of median income, and the proportions in persistent poverty. For children, it also contains a measure of combined low income and material deprivation.
	Estimates of poverty by region, published in the Households Below Average Income series, begin from 1994-95.
	The number and proportion of children living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income, on a before housing costs basis, are in the table.
	
		
			  Numbers and Proportion of children living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income, Before Housing Costs, South West, 1994/95-1996/97 to 2005/06-2007/08 
			   Number of children (million)  Proportion of children (p ercentage ) 
			 1994/95-1996/97 0.2 21 
			 1995/96-1997/98 0.2 21 
			 1996/97-1998/99 0.2 23 
			 1997/98-1999/2000 0.2 24 
			 1998/99-2000/01 0.2 22 
			 1999/00-2001/02 0.2 20 
			 2000/01-2002/03 0.2 19 
			 2001/02-2003/04 0.2 18 
			 2002/03-2004/05 0.2 18 
			 2003/04-2005/06 0.2 17 
			 2004/05-2006/07 0.2 17 
			 2005/06-2007/08 0.2 18 
			  Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income, sourced from the Family Resources Survey. Both of these documents are available in the Library. 2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference periods for Households Below Average Income figures are single financial years. Three sample years have been combined for regional statistics as single year estimates are subject to volatility. 4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 5. For the Households Below Average Income series, incomes have been equivalised using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development equivalisation factors. 6. Information for adults includes those above State Pension age. 7. Numbers of children in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000.  Source:  Households Below Average Income, DWP

Social Security Benefits: Cambridgeshire

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received  (a) jobseeker's allowance,  (b) income support and  (c) incapacity benefit in North West Cambridgeshire constituency in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Goodman: Unemployment in the UK at the end of 2009 was more than 450,000 lower than had been predicted at the time of the 2009 Budget.
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of claimants of jobseeker's allowance (JSA), incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance (IB/SDA) and income support (IS) in North West Cambridgeshire, as at August in each of the last 10 years 
			  As at August each year  JSA  IB/SDA  IS 
			 2000 860 2,880 3,220 
			 2001 770 3,020 3,300 
			 2002 790 2,990 3,280 
			 2003 810 3,080 3,280 
			 2004 830 3,150 1,310 
			 2005 980 3,230 1,270 
			 2006 1,130 3,290 1,260 
			 2007 1,110 3,370 1,310 
			 2008 1,320 3,480 1,290 
			 2009 2,500 3,110 1,390 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Benefits are arranged hierarchically and claimants are assigned to the topmost benefit which they receive. 3. JSA: Claimant of jobseeker's allowance. 4. IB/SDA: Claimant of either incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance. 5. Income Support: Claimants include lone parents and those not included in the IB/SDA figure. 6. Most existing minimum income guarantee cases (1.8 million) were migrated to pension credit when it was introduced in October 2003. Some residual cases remain. 7. This data does not include claimants of employment and support allowance introduced from October 2008.  Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Unemployment Benefits

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been claiming  (a) an out of work benefit and  (b) a combination of different out of work benefits continuously since 1997.

Jim Knight: holding answer 14 December 2009
	The number of people claiming one of the key out-of-work benefits has fallen by over 350,000 since 1997.
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number claiming jobseeker's allowance, incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance, or income support for 12 years and over, as at August 2009 
			   Number 
			 Jobseeker 370 
			 Incapacity benefits 661,190 
			 All other income support 77,070 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Benefits are arranged hierarchically and claimants are assigned to the topmost benefit which they receive. 3. For this analysis the claim start date has been used. 4. Job seeker-claimant of job seeker's allowance. 5. Incapacity benefits-claimant of either incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance. 6. Income support-claimants of income support not included in the incapacity benefits figure.  Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 
		
	
	Although this group of benefits are generally known as out-of-work benefits, income support and jobseeker's allowance claimants can work for up to 16 hours a week. Where appropriate, those on incapacity benefits can also do some work under the permitted work rules.

Welfare to Work: Standards

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's most recent monthly summary report on the performance of all welfare-to-work providers against agreed targets.

Jim Knight: A copy of the most recent report, which includes the cumulative performance of contracted provision up to the end of December 2009, has been placed in the Library, alongside an average monthly jobs graph.
	DWP is looking at making contracted performance information available on a regular basis via the DWP Website.
	The publishable version of the report has commercially sensitive and un-audited finance portions removed.

Winter Fuel Payments: Cambridgeshire

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims for winter fuel payments were made by households in  (a) North West Cambridgeshire,  (b) Cambridgeshire and  (c) Peterborough in the latest period for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: Information on winter fuel payment claims made by households in  (a) North West Cambridgeshire,  (b) Cambridgeshire and  (c) Peterborough is not available.
	For winter 2008-09, the latest year for which information is available, the following numbers of winter fuel payments were made to households:
	
		
			   Number 
			 North West Cambridgeshire 14,970 
			 Cambridgeshire 86,570 
			 Peterborough 13,500 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten. 2.Local Authorities and Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.  Source:  Information directorate 100 per cent data.

Building Schools for the Future Programme: Berkshire

Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding has been allocated to each school in  (a) Reading East constituency and  (b) Berkshire under the Building Schools for the Future Scheme; and when he expects each grant to be paid to the relevant local education authority.

Vernon Coaker: School capital allocations are allocated at local authority level and no central records are maintained which distinguish between parliamentary constituencies. None of the authorities in Berkshire, including Reading, have yet entered the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Therefore no BSF funding has been allocated to schools in these authorities. BSF projects are prioritised based on educational and social need and on a local authority's ability to provide robust evidence of their readiness to deliver. We are not yet able to say when the authorities will be invited to join the programme. However we are committed to seeing all local authorities enter the programme as soon as is practicable.

Children's Centres: South East

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many Sure Start children's centres have been established  (a) in each district council area in Hampshire and  (b) in the Isle of Wight in each year since the inception of the programme.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 18 March 2010
	Table 1 details how many sure start children's centres have been established  (a) in district councils in Hampshire and  (b) the Isle of Wight in each year since the inception of the programme.
	
		
			Sure Start children's centres established (designated) each year
			  Local authority  Council  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010  Sub Total  Children's centres mergers  Total 
			 Hampshire Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 4 11 0 11 
			 Hampshire East Hampshire District Council 0 0 0 1 1 4 0 0 6 0 6 
			 Hampshire Eastleigh Borough Council 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 3 9 1 8 
			 Hampshire Fareham Borough Council 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 5 0 5 
			 Hampshire Gosport Borough Council 0 1 1 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 6 
			 Hampshire Hart District Council 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 7 0 7 
			 Hampshire Havant Borough Council 1 0 1 2 1 4 0 0 9 1 8 
			 Hampshire New Forest District Council 0 0 1 0 0 9 0 0 10 0 10 
			 Hampshire Rushmoor Borough Council 0 0 1 0 0 5 1 0 7 1 6 
			 Hampshire Test Valley Borough Council 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 6 0 6 
			 Hampshire Winchester City Council 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 4 8 0 8 
			 Hampshire Total  1 1 4 5 3 46 4 20 84 3 81 
			  
			 Isle of Wight  0 1 3 1 3 0 1 - 9 1 8

National Safeguarding Delivery Unit

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2009,  Official Report, columns 1069-70W, on the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit, if he will place in the Library copies of the two progress reports submitted to the DA(FCY) ministerial sub-group in July and December 2009.

Dawn Primarolo: Consistent with longstanding practice, proceedings of Cabinet and Cabinet committees are generally not disclosed as to do so puts at risk the public interest in both collective responsibility and the full and frank discussion of policy by Ministers.

Support for All: The Families and Relationships

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding has been allocated to rolling-out free bookshop book packs as announced in Support for All: the Families and Relationships Green Paper to date.

Dawn Primarolo: Funding for the Booktrust programme as referred to in Support for All: the Families and Relationships Green Paper is £18 million in 2009-11. This programme continues to provide free book packs to families with young children at six-nine months, 18 months and three years, each giving age appropriate children's books and advice to parents and carers to promote shared reading, storytelling and rhymes in the home.

Teachers: North West

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many teachers in full-time employment there were in  (a) the North West and  (b) Manchester Central constituency in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 29 March 2010
	The following table provides the full-time number of teachers employed in local authority maintained schools, city technology colleges and academies in the north west Government office region and Manchester Central constituency in each January, 1997 to 2009.
	
		
			  Full-time regular teachers (excluding occasionals) in local authority maintained nursery, primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units, city technology colleges and academies, January 1997 to 2009 
			  Coverage: North West Government office region (GOR) and Manchester Central parliamentary constituency (PC) 
			  January  North West GOR( 1)  Manchester Central PC( 2) 
			 1997 55,950 (3)- 
			 1998 55,770 650 
			 1999 56,380 650 
			 2000 56,350 610 
			 2001 56,460 600 
			 2002 57,170 600 
			 2003 57,220 570 
			 2004 57,110 570 
			 2005 56,950 540 
			 2006 56,850 550 
			 2007 55,500 550 
			 2008 54,860 570 
			 2009 55,080 580 
			 (1 )Source: Local authority maintained schools (618g), city technology and academy teachers (school census). (2 )Source: school census. (3 )Not available.  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Georgia: Politics and Government

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the President of Georgia on  (a) media freedom,  (b) human rights,  (c) democracy and  (d) the rule of law in Georgia in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: I raised the importance of continued Georgian efforts to reform in these areas when I met President Saakashvili on 18 February. We continue to remind the Georgian Government, including at ministerial level, that commitment to reform, particularly judicial and electoral reform, and strengthening democracy, media freedom and human rights are key to maintaining international support. My hon. Friend, the Minister for Europe (Chris Bryant) raised these issues with the Georgian Foreign Minister in October 2009, and the Prime Minister in November 2009.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies spent on (i) alcohol and (ii) entertainment in the last 12 months.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In 2008-09, the Treasury spent £91,000 and the Office of Government Commerce £1,000 on official entertainment.
	For information on alcohol spending by the Treasury and the Office of Government Commerce, I refer the hon. Member to the answer the hon. Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle) gave on 9 March 2009,  Official Report, column 103W, to the hon. Member for Reading, East (Mr. Wilson). The Debt Management Office spent £10,000 on official entertainment in 2008-09, of which £2,000 was spent on alcohol.
	All expenditure is incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Housing: Valuation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 12 October 2009,  Official Report, column 265W, on valuation, how many new conservatories local authorities have notified to the Valuation Office Agency in the last 12 months.

Ian Pearson: This information cannot be provided without disproportionate cost.

Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 1 March 2010,  Official Report, column 947W, on anti-social behaviour: fixed penalties, what powers representatives of parish councils have to issue penalty notices for disorder; and what changes there have been to parish councils' powers to issue fines or fixed penalty notices since 1997.

Claire Ward: It is possible for a parish warden to be accredited under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme. In granting accreditation, the chief officer of the local police force may also grant powers that include a power to issue penalty notices for disorder.
	Parish council representatives also have powers to issue other fixed penalty notices. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 allows parish councils to prosecute, in the magistrates court, those that are suspected of committing an offence against a dog control order, or who are suspected of having committed a litter, graffiti or fly-posting offence. The Act gives the power to parish councils to authorise staff to issue fixed penalty notices to alleged offenders as an alternative to prosecution.

Prison Service: Pensions

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether long-term state pension costs of retired staff are taken into account when calculating the cost of a prison place in England and Wales.

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard) on 9 March 2010,  Official R eport, column 248W.

Prisoners

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any prisoners have been charged with the offence of corrupting a public official during the last 12 months.

Claire Ward: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) on 4 March 2010,  Official Report, column 1346W.

Youth Justice Board: Crime Prevention

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent by the Youth Justice Board on crime prevention programmes in 2008-09.

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) on 1 March 2010,  Official Report, column 943W.

Youth Justice Board: Custodial Places

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of the Youth Justice Board's budget was spent on purchasing custodial places in 2008-09.

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) on 25 February 2010,  Official Report, column 665W.

Youth Offending Teams: Youth Justice Board

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the change in real terms in spending on  (a) the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales and  (b) local youth offending teams was between 2000 and 2007.

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) on 26 February 2010,  Official Report, column 802W.

Affordable Housing

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes were purchased through  (a) HomeBuy Direct,  (b) new Build HomeBuy,  (c) Open Market HomeBuy,  (d) the First Time Buyer's initiative,  (e) Social HomeBuy and  (f) Rent to HomeBuy schemes in each year from the inception of each scheme to 2006.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) to the hon. Members for Brent, East (Sarah Teather) on 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1282W and Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 30 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1400W.
	HomeBuy Direct and Rent to HomeBuy were not operational in 2006.

Affordable Housing

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households in each constituency have participated in the Homebuy Direct scheme to date.

John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency's Information System does not collect such data on a constituency basis.

Affordable Housing: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department allocated to each sub-region for low cost home ownership programmes in spending period  (a) 2008-11,  (b) 2009-10 and  (c) 2010-11 to date; and how many such homes are expected to be completed in each sub-region.

John Healey: The table shows allocations made through the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Housing programme for low cost home ownershi8p programmes by sub-region. The allocations shown are in respect of those made each year for 2008-09 and 2009-10 to end of February 2010 respectively. Allocations in 2010-11 will not be made until the next financial year.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Region  Sub-region  2008-09  2009-10  Total 
			 East Midlands Northern 2.33 7.23 9.55 
			 East Midlands Peak 1.42 0.89 2.31 
			 East Midlands Rural East 9.19 11.16 20.36 
			 East Midlands Southern Growth 12.84 14.97 27.81 
			 East Midlands Three Cities 21.49 19.98 41.47 
			 East Midlands Total  47.27 54.23 101.50 
			  
			 East of England Bedfordshire 27.70 27.04 54.73 
			 East of England Cambridge 19.21 11.37 30.58 
			 East of England Greater Norwich 7.90 5.25 13.15 
			 East of England Haven Gateway 6.85 14.75 21.61 
			 East of England London Commuter Belt 22.60 31.85 54.46 
			 East of England Peterborough 7.67 9.11 16.79 
			 East of England Rural East Anglia 4.25 1.58 5.84 
			 East of England Thames Gateway 10.20 10.69 20.89 
			 East of England Yarmouth and Lowestoft 0.12 1.79 1.91 
			 East of England Total  106.52 113.44 219.95 
			  
			 London East 133.46 168.06 301.52 
			 London North 102.93 74.65 177.58 
			 London South East 69.87 92.58 162.46 
			 London South West 56.85 61.47 118.32 
			 London West 89.47 57.81 147.28 
			 London Total  452.58 454.57 907.15 
			  
			 North East County Durham 2.16 7.31 9.48 
			 North East Northumberland 0.71 3.50 4.22 
			 North East Tees Valley 4.59 12.50 17.09 
			 North East Tyne and Wear 1.88 10.01 11.89 
			 North East Total  9.35 33.33 42.68 
			  
			 North West Cheshire 4.11 3.41 7.52 
			 North West Cumbria 0.92 2.63 3.55 
			 North West East Lanes 5.91 2.76 8.66 
			 North West Greater Manchester 27.30 36.09 63.39 
			 North West Merseyside 18.65 15.67 34.32 
			 North West West Lanes 11.14 10.80 21.94 
			 North West Total  68.03 71.35 139.38 
			  
			 South East Ashford 4.67 11.92 16.59 
			 South East Blackwater Valley 4.99 16.12 21.11 
			 South East Canterbury and East Kent 3.75 3.26 7.01 
			 South East Crawley/Gatwick 3.97 4.70 8.67 
			 South East Eastbourne 0.30 0.46 0.76 
			 South East Guildford/Woking 14.76 5.31 20.07 
			 South East Hastings and Rother 0.16 1.30 1.46 
			 South East High Weald 0.95 1.73 2.68 
			 South East Inner North 2.03 5.52 7.55 
			 South East Inner South 6.78 2.79 9.56 
			 South East Inner West 5.39 6.02 11.41 
			 South East Isle of Wight 5.60 1.65 7.25 
			 South East Maidstone Milton Keynes/South 4.69 3.14 7.83 
			 South East Midlands 9.43 14.32 23.75 
			 South East North Hampshire-M3 4.12 10.21 14.33 
			 South East North Kent 9.94 13.76 23.70 
			 South East Oxford City Region 9.15 5.76 14.92 
			 South East Reading-M4 West 24.73 17.60 42.33 
			 South East South Hampshire 22.71 19.22 41.93 
			 South East Sussex Coast 15.96 13.05 29.01 
			 South East West Kent 2.90 4.70 7.60 
			 South East Total  156.98 162.55 319.53 
			  
			 South West Bournemouth and Poole 5.53 6.79 12.32 
			 South West Cornwall 0.00 5.65 5.65 
			 South West Exeter 17.76 14.31 32.07 
			 South West Gloucester and Cheltenham 1.47 19.27 20.74 
			 South West Plymouth 2.43 6.84 9.27 
			 South West Polycentric Devon and Cornwall 2.06 3.04 5.10 
			 South West Salisbury 0.83 0.00 0.83 
			 South West South Somerset 2.03 2.23 4.26 
			 South West Swindon 4.47 22.67 27.14 
			 South West Taunton 0.25 6.24 6.49 
			 South West Torbay 0.34 0.47 0.80 
			 South West West Cornwall 4.26 0.00 4.26 
			 South West West of England 21.46 29.30 50.76 
			 South West Weymouth -Dorchester 1.05 1.18 2.23 
			 South West Total  63.94 117.99 181.93 
			  
			 West Midlands Central 44.50 56.48 100.98 
			 West Midlands North 4.39 6.75 11.14 
			 West Midlands South 5.77 8.14 13.91 
			 West Midlands West 2.81 3.63 6.44 
			 West Midlands Total  57.47 75.01 132.48 
			  
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Humberside 3.00 13.00 16.01 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber North Yorkshire 5.12 7.20 12.31 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber South Yorkshire 8.02 17.96 25.98 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber West Yorkshire 18.86 30.72 49.57 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Total  35.00 68.87 103.87 
			 Grand Total  997.13 1,151.34 2,148.47 
			  Source:  Homes and Communities Agency 
		
	
	The following table shows the number of low cost home ownership completions (forecast or actual) arising from those allocations provided by the year of the allocation and not by year of completion.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Region  Sub-region  2,008  2,009  Total 
			 East Midlands Northern 145 306 451 
			 East Midlands Peak 53 32 85 
			 East Midlands Rural East 410 494 904 
			 East Midlands Southern Growth 500 435 935 
			 East Midlands Three Cities 893 762 1,655 
			 East Midlands Total  2,001 2,029 4,030 
			  
			 East of England Bedfordshire 996 811 1,807 
			 East of England Cambridge 696 527 1,223 
			 East of England Greater Norwich 308 196 504 
			 East of England Haven Gateway 353 614 967 
			 East of England London Commuter Belt 773 983 1,756 
			 East of England Peterborough 227 331 558 
			 East of England Rural East Anglia 158 66 224 
			 East of England Thames Gateway 354 333 687 
			 East of England Yarmouth and Lowestoft 27 63 90 
			 East of England Total  3,892 3,924 7,816 
			  
			 London East 2,749 2,984 5,733 
			 London North 1,674 1,705 3,379 
			 London South East 1,846 1,715 3,561 
			 London South West 1,271 1,227 2,498 
			 London West 1,743 1,249 2,992 
			 London Total  9,283 8,880 18,163 
			  
			 North East County Durham 86 328 414 
			 North East Northumberland 53 158 211 
			 North East Tees Valley 185 583 768 
			 North East Tyne and Wear 85 420 505 
			 North East Total  409 1,489 1,898 
			  
			 North West Cheshire 262 125 387 
			 North West Cumbria 36 107 143 
			 North West East Lanes 207 96 303 
			 North West Greater Manchester 892 1,324 2,216 
			 North West Merseyside 644 602 1,246 
			 North West West Lanes 270 411 681 
			 North West Total  2,311 2,665 4,976 
			  
			 South East Ashford 181 288 469 
			 South East Blackwater Valley 163 450 613 
			 South East Canterbury and East Kent 154 148 302 
			 South East Crawley/Gatwick 148 171 319 
			 South East Eastbourne 6 21 27 
			 South East Guildford/Woking 493 150 643 
			 South East Hastings and Rother 16 46 62 
			 South East High Weald 47 52 99 
			 South East Inner North 82 251 333 
			 South East Inner South 216 87 303 
			 South East Inner West 207 191 398 
			 South East Isle of Wight 137 59 196 
			 South East Maidstone Milton Keynes/South 190 102 292 
			 South East Midlands 335 515 850 
			 South East North Hampshire-M3 200 372 572 
			 South East North Kent 505 559 1,064 
			 South East Oxford City Region 345 184 529 
			 South East Reading-M4 West 750 476 1,226 
			 South East South Hampshire 784 501 1,285 
			 South East Sussex Coast 456 331 787 
			 South East West Kent 91 153 244 
			 South East Total  5,506 5,107 10,613 
			  
			 South West Bournemouth and Poole 104 181 285 
			 South West Cornwall  171 171 
			 South West Exeter 615 413 1,028 
			 South West Gloucester and Cheltenham 56 579 635 
			 South West Plymouth 92 232 324 
			 South West Polycentric Devon and Cornwall 114 130 244 
			 South West Salisbury 26  26 
			 South West South Somerset 64 76 140 
			 South West Swindon 264 627 891 
			 South West Taunton 26 226 252 
			 South West Torbay 30 9 39 
			 South West West Cornwall 238  238 
			 South West West of England 631 953 1,584 
			 South West Weymouth - Dorchester 54 33 87 
			 South West Total  2,314 3,630 5,944 
			  
			 West Midlands Central 1,866 2,020 3,886 
			 West Midlands North 244 261 505 
			 West Midlands South 298 232 530 
			 West Midlands West 97 122 219 
			 West Midlands Total  2,505 2,635 5,140 
			  
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Humberside 127 548 675 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber North Yorkshire 218 236 454 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber South Yorkshire 301 673 974 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber West Yorkshire 766 1,250 2,016 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber Total  1,412 2,707 4,119 
			 Grand Total  29,633 33,066 62,699

Council Housing: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of the budget of each arms length housing management organisation in each London local authority was recharged to the local authority in each of the last three years.

Ian Austin: The Department allocates funding to local authorities with arm's length management organisations (ALMOs) in the form of supported capital expenditure via the housing finance subsidy system. Local authorities, including those in London, allocate funding to their ALMOs via a management fee. This is a contractual matter as agreed between the local authorities and their ALMOs.
	The Department does not hold a record of the proportion of the budget of each arm's length management organisation that is recharged to its parent local authority.

Departmental Contracts

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will issue guidance on his Department's policy on the relocation offshore of departmental jobs to companies bidding for contracts let by his Department.

Barbara Follett: The Department does not have an 'Offshoring' policy. It is a procurement option which can be justified if it delivers value for money and is consistent with EC Procurement regulations.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what capital projects his Department expects to have in 2010-11; and what the budget for each will be in that year.

Barbara Follett: Capital expenditure is incurred by my Department and its Executive agency the Planning Inspectorate either to support its day to day running (mainly of the estates and IT systems), and that of its agency, or on key national fire resilience projects where the Department manages procurement for the fire service generally (Firelink and FiReControl). The budgets allocated to these projects for 2010-11 are set out in table A.
	However, the majority of the Department's capital programmes are delivered through arm's length bodies (the Homes and Communities Agency and the regional development agencies) and local authorities. The budgets allocated to these programmes for 2010-11 are set out in table B.
	Finally, my Department contributes to the funding of the infrastructure for the 2012 Olympic Games for which there is a budget of £442 million in 2010-11.
	
		
			  Table A-Capital projects in the Department and its Executive agency-the Planning Inspectorate 
			  Financial year 2010-11 plans 
			  Projects  Capital budgets( 1)  (£ million) 
			 Investment in Ordnance Survey 14.800 
			 Control Rooms equipment 9.199 
			 Planning Inspectorate equipment and computers 6.331 
			 Strategic information technology 7.034 
			 Investment in Coalfields Enterprise Fund 5.000 
			 Enhanced Local Government Accrual Reporting System 3.500 
			 Firelink equipment 2.200 
			 CLG building improvements 2.180 
			 Electronic Data Records Management System 2.000 
			 Government Offices building improvements 2.860 
			 Fire and Rescue Services Improvement 1.083 
			 Accounting system enhancements 1.350 
			 New Dimension equipment 1.582 
			 E-Planning information technology 1.000 
			 Total 60.119 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B-Capital grants 
			  Financial year 2010-11 plans 
			  Programmes  Capital budgets( 1)  (£ million) 
			 Homes and Communities Agency 3,538.396 
			 Arms Length Management Organisations 594.000 
			 Regional Development Agencies-CLG Support 543.322 
			 Regional Housing Pot Grant 301.752 
			 Housing Market Renewal Fund 286.000 
			 Local Authority Supported Capital Expenditure (Decent Homes) 258.755 
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 168.800 
			 Gap Funding for Large Scale Voluntary Transfers 139.000 
			 Community Infrastructure Fund 135.025 
			 Fire Credit Approvals 70.824 
			 Public Service Agreement Performance Fund 47.000 
			 Fire and Rescue Services Improvement programme 45.694 
			 Improvement, Transformation and Efficiency 42.870 
			 New Deal for Communities 43.340 
			 Thames Gateway-London Urban Development Corporation 33.000 
			 Support for Voluntary and Community Sector Sustainability 27.283 
			 Growth Areas New Growth Points and ECO Towns 25.000 
			 Thames Gateway-Thurrock Urban Development Corporation 20.000 
			 Local Enterprise Growth Initiative 18.649 
			 Other Growth Areas: West Northants Urban Development Corporation 7.065 
			 Coalfields Regeneration Trust 6.650 
			 Renewing Neighbourhoods 6.425 
			 General Greater London Authority Grant 1.600 
			 Valuation tribunals 0.400 
			 Fire Service Statistics 0.271 
			 Local Government Standards Board 0.230 
			 Leasehold Advisory Services 0.132 
			 Housing Defects Grants 0.070 
			 Total 6,361.553 
			 (1) These budgets are current, and may be subject to change through the Supplementary Estimates process based on decisions by Ministers.

Fire Services: Emergency Calls

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2010,  Official Report, column 714W, on fire services: emergency calls, what the original timetable was for the launch of the SMS emergency number; what the original budget was; what the expected go-live date is; and what operational costs have been incurred to date.

Shahid Malik: The emergency SMS trial was launched by British telecommunications PLC on 14 September 2009 in accordance with the agreed with the mobile service providers and emergency services and is available nationally. BT is currently developing plans for providing capacity and resilience in the system which will allow the arrangements to be regarded as providing a full, rather than a trial, service.
	The service is being provided by BT and the mobile service providers at no cost to the emergency services, who should incur no operational costs.

Fire Services: Finance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of the income of each fire and rescue authority in England was from  (a) central Government grant,  (b) council tax and  (c) other sources in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Barbara Follett: The proportion of the income from central government grant, council tax and other sources for each fire and rescue authority in England in 2008-09 is in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			   Central Government grant  Council tax  Other sources 
			 Greater Manchester Fire and CD Authority 64.4 34.0 1.6 
			 Merseyside Fire and CD Authority 62.0 34.4 3.7 
			 South Yorkshire Fire and CD Authority 60.8 36.1 3.0 
			 Tyne and Wear Fire and CD Authority 59.4 35.4 5.1 
			 West Midlands Fire and CD Authority 66.6 29.7 3.7 
			 West Yorkshire Fire and CD Authority 62.9 36.3 0.7 
			 Avon Combined Fire Authority 56.0 42.5 1.5 
			 Bedfordshire Combined Fire Authority 40.4 57.2 2.4 
			 Berkshire Combined Fire Authority 47.0 51.8 1.2 
			 Buckinghamshire Combined Fire Authority 41.5 53.3 5.2 
			 Cambridgeshire Combined Fire Authority 47.5 51.0 1.5 
			 Cheshire Combined Fire Authority 43.1 55.4 1.5 
			 Cleveland Combined Fire Authority 67.7 30.2 2.1 
			 Derbyshire Combined Fire Authority 46.8 51.5 1.7 
			 Devon and Somerset Combined Fire Authority 47.8 48.6 3.6 
			 Dorset Combined Fire Authority 37.7 50.0 12.3 
			 Durham Combined Fire Authority 47.0 52.8 0.3 
			 East Sussex Combined Fire Authority 37.6 61.2 1.1 
			 Essex Combined Fire Authority 44.2 54.2 1.6 
			 Hampshire Combined Fire Authority 44.2 53.8 2.1 
			 Hereford and Worcester Combined Fire Authority 37.5 59.0 3.5 
			 Humberside Combined Fire Authority 53.9 44.1 1.9 
			 Kent Combined Fire Authority 42.1 52.9 5.0 
			 Lancashire Combined Fire Authority 53.8 44.3 1.9 
			 Leicestershire Combined Fire Authority 55.0 43.9 1.1 
			 North Yorkshire Combined Fire Authority 43.7 55.4 0.8 
			 Nottinghamshire Combined Fire Authority 49.0 45.0 6.0 
			 Shropshire Combined Fire Authority 37.1 59.6 3.3 
			 Staffordshire Combined Fire Authority 43.4 55.0 1.6 
			 Wiltshire Combined Fire Authority 39.9 58.5 1.6 
			  Source: Communities and Local Government revenue outturn (RO) returns and capital outturn (CO) returns 
		
	
	The definition of central Government grant used here is the sum of formula grant (revenue support grant and redistributed non-domestic rates), specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF) (i.e. revenue grants paid for council's core services), specific and special revenue grants outside AEF (i.e. where funding is not for authorities' core services, but is passed to a third party, for example, rent allowances and rebates), area based grant (ABG) and expenditure financed by capital grants from central Government.
	The definition of council tax used here is council taxes financed from council tax benefit grant but excludes council taxes financed from local authority contributions to council tax benefit.
	Other sources is defined as sum of interest and investment income-external receipts and dividends, sales fees and charges and in-year capital receipts.
	Other sources exclude income reported by local authorities under 'other income' in RO returns as this includes internal recharges, which distorts the comparative figures on income.
	Comparison across years may not be valid owing to changing local authority responsibilities.

Fire Services: Risk Assessment

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Stroud of 16 December 2009,  Official Report, columns 1269-70W, on fire services: risk assessment, what the risks identified on the FiReControl risk register are; what level of risk is assigned to each; and what steps are being taken to mitigate each risk.

Shahid Malik: The FiReControl risk assessment is published as Appendix M of the FiReControl Full Business Case, published in May 2009. These risks are organised under nine main categories, with the level of risk and the mitigation set out-these are kept under review. The business case can be found at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/fire/pdf/fcbusinesscasepart2.pdf

Homelessness: Reading Berkshire

Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he made of the number of people homeless in Reading East constituency in each year since 1997.

Ian Austin: Homelessness prevention measures funded by Communities and Local Government have had a major impact. In the last six years the quarterly level of statutory homelessness cases has reduced by 71 per cent.
	Information on homelessness is not collected at constituency level.
	Summary tables including the number of households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty by each local authority as at the end of each year between 1997-98 and 2008-09 have been deposited in the Library of the House as stated in the question from the hon. Member for Castle Point on 23 June 2009,  Official Report, column 843W.
	Information has also been collected and reported since 1998 on the number of people who sleep rough-i.e., those who are literally roofless on a single night. Local authority data and count guidance can be found on the CLG website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/roughsleeping2009

Homes and Communities Agency: Hotels

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 23 March 2010,  Official Report, columns 271-72W, on housing: conferences, how much of the Homes and Communities Agency's expenditure on accommodation was related to  (a) hotel room bookings and  (b) use of mini-bar and dining facilities.

Barbara Follett: Cost of hotel room bookings for the HCA's attendance at the MIPIM conference in March 2010 was: £4,282 plus a transaction fee of £124.
	No costs were incurred for use of the mini bar or dining.

Housing: Standards

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local planning authority staff have been trained by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment to become accredited Building for Life assessors.

Ian Austin: 404 have local authority officers started the training since the programme started in January 2009. Of these, 229 have now completed the full accreditation.

Kent

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what schemes in Kent Thameside have received funding from his Department and its executive agencies in each of the last five years; and how much funding was allocated to each of those schemes.

Shahid Malik: The following table sets out the funding provided by the Thames Gateway programme to projects in Kent Thameside in each of the last five years.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Project  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 A2 Activity Park and Northfleet Urban Area - - - 311,095 879,375 
			 Acquisition of Beauwater Sports Ground 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Action Now-Gravesend Heritage Quarter 0 0 139,078 0 0 
			 Brooklands Lakes improvements and feasibility study 0 0 93,829 0 0 
			 Cobham Heritage Park: South Lodge and Barn 0 0 779,000 300,000 0 
			 Cobham Heritage Park: West Park 0 0 359,976 0 0 
			 Communities Learning Facilities 238,628 0 0 0 0 
			 Creating Greener Lifestyles and Green Gym 0 0 21,400 0 0 
			 Darenth Sporting Connections 0 0 668,000 0 0 
			 Darenth Woods Green Links Project 0 0 95,300 0 0 
			 Dartford Creek investigations 0 0 0 20,000 930,000 
			 Dartford Greenheart 0 0 0 40,000 824,909 
			 Dartford Heath 0 0 38,680 0 0 
			 Dartford Northern Gateway-CPO Strategy 0 0 0 420,000 425,000 
			 Dartford Town Centre : Darenth Gateway Study 100,000 0 0 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre : Darenth Valley Path 0 38,655 297,345 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre : Environmental Improvements 0 413,779 1,071,221 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre : Market Street Acquisition 160,000 0 0 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre : Matrix Centre Acquisition 1,923,000 0 0 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre : Milestone Garage Acquisition 350,000 0 0 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre : Steam Crane Wharf Works 133,800 0 0 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre : Unwins Depot 7,952,000 169,000 129,000 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre Land Acquisition 3,545,000 0 0 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre Townscape Heritage Initiative 0 0 59,147 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre: Glaxo East Site 22,183 0 0 0 0 
			 Dartford Town Centre: Viability and Master Planning 329,891 0 0 0 0 
			 Ebbsfleet Connections 0 0 48,200 0 0 
			 Enhancing The Enchanted Woodland 0 0 26,500 0 0 
			 Fastrack-Additional LTP Assessment 27,315 0 0 0 0 
			 Fastrack-Delivery of the Project 0 320,681 795,154 0 0 
			 Fastrack-Implementation Strategy Study 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Fastrack: Northfleet Embankment 0 0 32,748 0 0 
			 Fastrack: PPP/PFI Project Development 936,752 0 0 0 0 
			 Fastrack: Vehicle Procurement 2,500,805 0 0 0 0 
			 Flying Start: Development Plan 0 100,000 0 0 0 
			 GKA: Wilmington Hall School 0 30,700 0 0 0 
			 GKA: North Kent Construction Skills Centres 0 0 2,200,000 0 0 
			 GKA: Darent Federation Axton Chase 17,450 0 0 0 0 
			 GKA: Darent Federation Dartford 17,450 0 0 0 0 
			 GKA: Northfleet Arts Centre 35,000 0 0 0 0 
			 GKA: Project Office Retention 0 29,307 0 0 0 
			 GKA: Temple School 60,000 0 0 0 0 
			 GKA: Thamesview School 60,000 0 0 0 0 
			 GKA: Westlands School 60,000 0 0 0 0 
			 Gravesend Community Woodland: Acquisitions 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gravesend Community Woodland: Consultation 164,000 166,000 86,000 0 0 
			 Gravesend Community Woodland: Contingency 38,831 109,590 72,518 0 0 
			 Gravesend Community Woodland: Habitat 5,000 713,000 52,000 0 0 
			 Gravesend Community Woodland: Infrastructure 40,000 884,000 28,000 0 0 
			 Gravesend Community Woodland: Initial Site Works 135,000 0 0 0 0 
			 Gravesend Community Woodland: Site Delivery Team 122,000 154,000 125,000 0 0 
			 Gravesend Community Woodland: A2 Footbridges 0 766,971 203,999 0 0 
			 Gravesend Old Town Hall phase 1 0 0 0 950,000 0 
			 Gravesend Riverside Leisure area 0 0 134,969 0 0 
			 Gravesend Station Quarter Masterplan 58,300 0 0 0 0 
			 Gravesend Town Centre Initiatives 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gravesend Transport Quarter 0 0 0 750,000 3,000,000 
			 Gravesend Transport Quarter Pt A 0 25,000 199,788 0 0 
			 Great Expectations: Thames and Medway Canal Cluster 0 0 0 77,000 1,331,310 
			 Green Cluster MasterPlans for North Kent 0 0 170,000 0 0 
			 Green Grid: Ancient Woodlands Country Park 3,700 0 0 0 0 
			 Green Grid: CAMS 377,591 0 0 0 0 
			 Green Grid: Central Plaza 178,664 0 0 0 0 
			 Green Grid: Dartford Heath 153,778 0 0 0 0 
			 Green Grid: Enhancement of Darent Valley study 20,000 0 0 0 0 
			 Green Grid: Hillyfields 142,986 0 0 0 0 
			 Green Grid: Managing the Marshes 18,429 0 0 0 0 
			 Green Grid: Ordnance Road Study 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Green Grid: Shorne Wood Country Park 762,730 0 0 0 0 
			 Green Grid: Swanscombe Heritage Park 142,089 0 0 0 0 
			 Heritage Quarter Design 175,207 0 0 0 0 
			 Homes and Roads Engineering Studies 0 220,000 423,557 0 0 
			 Innovation Centre 49,695 1,830,280 1,620,025 0 0 
			 Jeskyns Additional Spend 0 0 45,000 0 0 
			 Managing the Marshes-Dartford 1,045,200 0 0 0 0 
			 North East Gravesend : Accommodating Excellence 500,000 0 0 0 0 
			 North East Gravesend: Gravesend/Canal Basin 0 250,000 0 -83,919 0 
			 North East Gravesend: Viability and Master Planning 226,720 0 0 0 0 
			 North Kent Environment: Ranscombe Farm 23,465 0 10,449 0 0 
			 North Kent Environment: Regional Park 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Norfhfleet Embankment: Red Lion Wharf 0 0 0 25,000 220,000 
			 Northfleet Embankment fees 0 0 0 125,000 200,000 
			 Northfleet Urban Country Park 0 0 76,423 0 0 
			 Roman Road Cycle Path 0 0 131,425 0 0 
			 SCC Sports Complex 0 310,000 0 0 0 
			 SEEDA Thames Gateway Project Delivery 0 300,000 220,000 -28,288 0 
			 Shorne Marshes and Shornemead Fort 0 2,788 172,212 -5,946 0 
			 SRC: Transport Assessment and Feasibility Study 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Stone Discovery Park Phase 1 0 0 62,000 0 0 
			 Strategic Site Acquisition Strategy and Action Plan 0 0 0 0 0 
			 SUSCON Skills and Learning Centre 0 0 134,000 0 0 
			 SUSCON Skills Academy 0 0 0 0 3,000,000 
			 Swanscombe Heritage Park 0 0 112,193 0 0 
			 Swanscombe Regeneration 404,129 0 0 0 0 
			 Swanscome Peninsula Feasibility Study 0 0 0 71,000 0 
			 Thames and Medway Canal Study 0 0 60,667 0 0 
			 The Bridge Innovation Lab 0 0 197,942 1 0 
			 The Old Rectory 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Town Centre Regeneration Gravesend 1,229,480 0 0 0 0 
			 TT Demolition 0 0 0 0 1,250,000 
			 Vocational Learning Centres 1,960,000 0 0 0 0

Local Government Finance: Northampton

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Government provided in grants to Northampton Borough Council in  (a) 1997,  (b) 2001,  (c) 2005 and  (d) the last year for which figures are available.

Barbara Follett: The information requested is tabled as follows:
	
		
			  Central Government grant 
			   £000 
			 1997-98 13,863 
			 2001-02 15,692 
			 2005-06 18,718 
			 2008-09 22,334 
			  Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn Summary (RS) returns. 
		
	
	The definition of central Government grant used here is the sum of formula grant (revenue support grant and redistributed non-domestic rates), and specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF), i.e. revenue grants paid for council's core services. In past years, where applicable the SSA reduction grant and Central Support Protection Grants have also been included. For 2008-09 it also includes Area Based Grant.
	Figures exclude grants outside AEF (i.e. where funding is not for authorities' core services, but is passed to a third party, for example, rent allowances and rebates), capital grants, funding for the local authorities' housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.
	Comparison across years may not be valid owing to changing local authority responsibilities.

Local Housing Allowance

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the  (a) percentage and  (b) cash change in level of local housing allowance in each area for (i) a bedsit, (ii) a one-bedroom property, (iii) a two-bedroom property, (iv) a three-bedroom property and (v) a four-bedroom property when the highest rents are excluded from the calculation.

Helen Goodman: I have been asked to reply.
	The Local Housing Allowance was rolled out from 7 April 2008 and is a more transparent way of calculating the rent element of housing benefit for people living in the deregulated private rented sector who make a new claim for housing benefit or for existing customers who change address.
	Local housing allowance rates are set monthly by the Valuation Office Agency in England, Rent Officers Wales and Rent Service Scotland. They are published monthly by each local authority and at:
	https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/secure/default.aspx
	In Budget 2010 the Government announced that the top 1 per cent. of rents nationally would be removed from the market evidence for all bedroom sizes one to five in the calculation of local housing allowance rates, except the shared room rate. This will take effect for new claims from October 2011 and existing customers will be affected when their benefit rate is reviewed, usually at the anniversary point of their claim.
	The estimates the Department for Work and Pensions have made on the impact of this measure on local housing allowance rates are based on the latest available list of rents from the Valuation Office Agency which relate to April 2009. Due to substantial changes to broad rental market area boundaries and local housing allowance rates since April 2009, and potential for further changes in the near future, it is not appropriate to break these figures down to identify impacts on specific areas.
	According to our estimates, had the policy been introduced in April 2009, the number of customers who would see a decrease in their local housing allowance rate under this measure is around 2 per cent. of the local housing allowance caseload. The average loss for these customers is £24 (at April 2009 prices) although there is large variation on this from area to area and customer to customer. A few customers, such as those in five-bedrooms in Central London, could see their awards decrease by significant amounts, while others would see their benefit change marginally.

Non-domestic Rates: Ports

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his estimate is of the amount of retrospective business rate payments  (a) owed by newly-assessed port companies,  (b) paid in full by such companies to date and  (c) paid in first instalments under the scheme for paying rates off over eight years; how many companies have (i) paid in full and (ii) paid a first instalment; and what the estimated cost of the deferral scheme is to the public purse.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 25 March 2010
	As at December 23 2009, the Valuation Office Agency have advised my department that 724 newly assessed, port based properties are liable for backdated Rates to April 1 2005.
	An estimate of the monetary value of the backdated liabilities was made in respect of all ratepayers (not just port based properties) and was published in the impact assessment alongside the Explanatory Memorandum for the Non Domestic Rating (collection and Enforcement) (local Lists) (England) (Amendment) regulations 2009:
	http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/em/uksiem_20090204_en.pdf
	This states that the estimated backdated liability, before the application of any relief's, is forecast to be approximately £131 million and the cost of the scheme to be approximately £33 million.
	The Government have listened to the concerns of businesses with significant and unexpected backdated bills, including some situated in ports. It has legislated to enable such bills to be repaid over an unprecedented eight years rather than in a single instalment, helping affected businesses to manage the impact on their cash flows during the downturn by reducing the amount they are required to pay now by 87.5 per cent.
	As at 8 October 2009, local authorities have reported that ratepayers occupying 221 properties within ports had fully discharged their backdated liability and ratepayers occupying a further 200 business properties within ports had been granted a schedule of payments. The Government does not have information on how many payments, or of what amount, the 200 properties with schedule of payments agreements have made.

Non-domestic Rates: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many business premises in York have rateable values for 2010-11 of  (a) less than £6,000 and  (b) between £6,000 and £12,000; and how many of each of these categories of premises qualify for small business rate relief.

Barbara Follett: There are 1850 hereditaments with a rateable value less than, or equal to, £6,000 and 1300 hereditaments with a rateable value greater than £6,000 and less than, or equal to, £12,000 in the City of York
	The report "Small Business Rate Relief-improving evidence on eligibility and take-up" was published on December 9 2009 and it estimates that of the approximately 1.2 million non-domestic properties in England which fall below the current rateable value (RV) thresholds for SBRR, around 575,000 are occupied by eligible small businesses. This report has been validated by an independent peer review and is available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/
	This methodology can only be applied to England as a whole. Therefore, it is not possible to estimate how many non-domestic properties qualify for SBRR in the City of York.
	However, new experimental statistics on the number of hereditaments claiming small business rate relief (SBRR) published on the Communities and Local Government website on 25 February 2010, show that 462,000 hereditaments in England were benefiting from SBRR on December 31st 2008.
	By applying that figure to the eligibility estimates made for the 2005 rating list it is estimated that around 80 per cent. of eligible hereditaments in England were claiming SBRR in 2008-09 - see table 1 as follows.
	Relief granted to small businesses has increased since SBRR was introduced-from £202 million in 2005-06 to £298 million in 2008-09. This represents a real terms rise of 34 per cent. Furthermore, in 2008-09, 92 per cent. of the total relief available was claimed-see table as follows.
	This statistical release is available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/sbrrfeb2010
	
		
			  Table 1: Take-up of SBRR-numbers claiming 
			   2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Number of hereditaments actually claiming SBRR (thousands) 396 433 462 
			 Number of hereditaments estimated to be occupied by eligible small businesses (thousands) 575 575 575 
			 Percentage of estimated eligible actually claiming 69 75 80 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Take-up of SBRR 2005-06 to 2008-09-relief 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Total relief that would be paid out if all properties estimated to be occupied by eligible small businesses were to claim(1): (£ million) 295 300 315 325 
			 Relief actually claimed: (£ million) 202 237 259 298 
			 Percentage take-up(2): 69 78 83 92 
			 (1) For details of how this estimate was made please see the paper "Small business rate relief-improving evidence on eligibility and take-up: Methodology". (2) Percentage of total relief, which would be paid if all eligible small businesses claimed it, that was actually paid.

Repossession Orders: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps he has taken to assist homeowners at risk of repossession in  (a) Coventry and  (b) the West Midlands.

John Healey: Government have taken early and concerted action to provide people facing the threat of repossession with help at every stage of the process. Recent figures indicate that actions taken to help families avoid repossession are having some impact-more families are getting help to stay in their home. Total repossessions in 2009 were 46,000-39 per cent. fewer than originally predicted by the CML and around half the rate of repossessions in the last recession in 1991.
	Coventry has been identified as a repossession hotspot and as such has been specifically targeted through the preventing repossessions awareness campaign.

Standards Board for England: Procurement

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 26 February 2010,  Official Report, column 778W, on the Standards Board for England: procurement, how much was spent on contracts with each supplier of the  (a) Standards Board for England and  (b) Homes and Communities Agency in 2008-09.

John Healey: A new list for both bodies, now also showing how much was spent with each supplier in 2008-09, has been deposited in the Library of the House. As the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) was established on 1 December 2008, the figures for the HCA cover only 1 December 2008 to 31 March 2009. Further to my earlier answer referred to above, a small number of additional suppliers to the Standards Board have been identified and these have been included in the new list.